Lorna Thayer
An image from Five Easy Pieces, one of the productions that also features Lorna Thayer.
Lorna Thayer

Lorna Thayer

March 10, 1919 — Boston, Massachusetts, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lorna Thayer (10 March 1919 - June 4, 2005) was an American character actress.

Thayer was born in Boston, the daughter of silent screen actress Louise Gibney. She appeared often in theatre and on television. In 1955 she played in The Beast with a Million Eyes with Paul Birch. She played minor roles in the films The Lusty Men, Texas City and Frankie and Johnny.

It was her role in the iconic 1970 film Five Easy Pieces as the waitress who refuses to allow Jack Nicholson's character to order a side of wheat toast that she is most likely to be remembered for and identified with. The scene has come to be known as the "chicken salad scene".

She died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, California aged 86, after battling Alzheimer's disease for five years.

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Five Easy Pieces

Five Easy Pieces

1970

The Lusty Men

The Lusty Men

1952

The Beast with a Million Eyes

The Beast with a Million Eyes

1955

Jennifer

Jennifer

1953

Alice Goodbody

Alice Goodbody

1974

Freckles

Freckles

1960

Mrs. Sundance

Mrs. Sundance

1974

The Women of Pitcairn Island

The Women of Pitcairn Island

1956